Incidence and characteristic analysis of in-hospital falls after anesthesia

Abstract

BackgroundIn-hospital falls may result in serious clinical adverse consequences, but the effects of anesthesia in the occurrence of postoperative falls are still undetermined. Anesthesia may theoretically cause postoperative falls due to the residual pharmacologic and neuromuscular blocking effects of anesthetics. We retrospectively reviewed events of in-hospital falls occurred after anesthesia management to identify the incidence and risk factors of postanesthesia falls.MethodsWe reviewed the postanesthesia visit of patients received anesthesia in the Hualien Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital from January 2009 to December 2013. Falls happened within 24 h after anesthesia were recorded. The Poisson regression model was used for simultaneous analysis of the association between incidence proportion of postanesthesia falls and the potential risk factors.ResultsA total of 60,796 inpatients received anesthesia management over the past 5 years, and ten patients fell within 24 h after anesthesia. All cases happened in the general wards. Falls occurred more often at the bedside, presence of caregivers, and during the daytime. Patients underwent regional anesthesia, and old age significantly increased the risk of postanesthesia falls, while differences in gender and ASA physical status did not affect the occurrence of postanesthesia falls.ConclusionsThe overall incidence proportion of postanesthesia falls is 1.6 cases per 10,000 patients (95 % CI 0.006 to 0.026 %) over a 24-h observation period. Falls are more commonly happened during the less expected periods after operation and are increased in the elderly and patients received regional anesthesia. This study highlights that more comprehensive clinical practice guidelines for postoperative care should be exercised to prevent the in-hospital falls.

Wearable devices for patient monitoring in the early postoperative period: a literature review

“…There are several common complications which may occur in the early postoperative period and can result in significant morbidity and mortality, as well as increased length of hospital stay, re-operation, readmission to hospital and significant costs (1,8,9). These complications and their general chronology, in terms of peak incidence, are outlined in Table 1 (1,(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15).…”

A Case-Control Study of Accidental Falls During Surgical Hospitalizations

“…In order to account primarily for perioperative risks (eg, perioperative medications), we included only falls within the 72 postoperative hours. A report by Lam 2 included falls within 24 hours of surgery and found an incidence of .02% (10 falls from a total of 60 796 hospitalized patients). This extremely low rate of falls may reflect lower likelihood to attempt to mobilize within the first 24 postoperative hours and the fact that they included procedures performed with intravenous sedation, suggesting a proportion of those subjects underwent less extensive surgeries.…”

Effects of multimedia‐based fall prevention education on the knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors of patients

“…The results of this study add further evidence that chronic diseases and regular use of medications are risk factors for patient falls. A review by Lam et al (2016) showed that falls were common among inpatients who had caretakers (including family members, friends, professional caregivers, and others). That result differed from the findings of the present study.…”

“…Lack of knowledge about falls, unfamiliarity with the risks of transferring into and out of bed, incorrect assistance during patient activities, and a lack of assessment of caretaker ability can also cause fall injuries. A study by Lam et al (2016) showed that inpatients were more likely to fall in the presence of companions (including family members, friends, professional caregivers, and others). Therefore, patient safety cannot be absolutely ensured, even when patients are cared for by family members.…”